Engine mounting



R. C. STRAUBE ENGINE MOUNTING June 26, 1934.

Filed 001:. 28, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

A TTORNE Y.

Far/yaw @5764; BY

June 26, 1934. R. c. STRAUBE' 1,954,542

ENGINE MOUNTING Filed 001;. 28, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 A TTORNE Y.

Patented June 26, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ENGINE MOUNTING Application October 28, 1932, Serial No. 639,990

13 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in engine mountings, and moreparticularly to a sliding base or mounting for internal combustionengines, for example, those of a type used for the propulsion of railwaymotor cars.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved enginemounting for'belt driven motor cars, in which the engine is arranged toslide between and along a pair of spaced guide members, so mounted withrespect to the frame structure of the car, as to form a part thereof,and thereby to increase its strength and rigidity, as well as to providea rigid substructure for the engine.

A further object is to provide an improved sliding engine base for usein connection with railway motor cars, in which the base is constructedentirely of structural steel members, which are relatively light inweight, and practically unbreakable, and are extremely simple andinexpensive to form and assemble.

A still further object is to provide an improved sliding engine baseassembly, which includes spaced depending members which are arranged toslide between and along guideways, the sliding members of the basehaving relatively large wearing surfaces for providing and maintainingaccurate alignment of the base parts, and means for readily and easilyadjusting the spaced relation between the wearing surfaces of thesliding members and guideways, to permit of easy adjustment tocompensate for wear during service.

An additional object is to provide an improved sliding base assembly,which includes engine slide members and guideways, which are constructedand arranged so that a portion of their wearing surfaces are disposed ina vertical plane to prevent any appreciable quantity of moisture orwater collecting between the wearing surfaces, and thus to cause rustand corrosion; the parts heretofore thus adversely affectednecessitating a greater manipulative force in order to move the enginealong the guideways.

Further objects and advantages will appear from the following detaileddescription of parts,

and from the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal elevation of a preferred form of railway motorcar, to which the present improvements are applied; Fig. 2 is anenlarged fragmentary longitudinal elevation, partially in mentarysection taken along line 4-4 in Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is an enlargedfragmentary section taken along line 55 in Fig. 2; Fig. 6 is an enlargedfragmentary section taken along line 6-6 in Fig. 3; Fig. '7 is anenlarged section taken along line 7-7 in Fig. 3; and Fig. 8 is anenlarged fragmentary sectional elevation of a modified form of enginehold-down means.

Referring by reference characters to the drawings, the numeral 10designates, generally, a preferred form of railway motor car whichincludes a suitable frame structure 11, carried upon car axles 12 whichare provided with usual car wheels 13. An internal combustion engine 14,of the type commonly employed on railway motor cars, is, by preference,provided. with a crank shaft 15 for driving a pulley 16, which transmitspower to a pulley 17 over a belt 18, the pulley 1'7 being secured to oneof the car axles 12. For controlling the effective driving tension ofthe belt 18, the engine 14 is arranged to be moved longitudinally of thecar frame, in such manner and direction that the distance betweencenters of the pulleys 16 and 17 is reduced or increased. A manualcontrol lever 19 is pivotally secured by means of a pin 20 to the framestructure 11 of the motor car, the lever being connected, intermediateits ends, to the engine, by means of a link 21, so that the engine maybe moved toward or away from the pulley 17, depending upon the directionof pivotal movement of the lever 19. The lever may be held in anypredetermined adjusted position by any suitable notching or latchingmeans (not shown) The engine 14 is, by preference, supported upon animproved mounting, generally indicated at 22, and which includes a steelplate or base member 23, to which is removably secured, such as by bolts24, a pair of spaced angle members 25, each having a horizontal flangeportion 26 directed inwardly of the car and engine, and a verticallydepending portion 2'7. The depending portions are, by preference, eachprovided with a smooth wearing face 28, which slidably engages corre--sponding mating faces 29 provided, respectively, on angle guide members30-which are removably secured, as by bolts 31, to channel or sillmembers 32. These channel members are, by preference, disposedlongitudinally of the car, but transversely of and adjustably secured tocross sill members 33, as by bolts 34, these cross members forming partof the frame structure of the car.

As shown in Fig. 4, the vertically depending portion 27 of each anglemember is, by preference, spaced inwardly of the lateral edges of theplate member 23, so as to provide smooth horizontal wearing faces 35which slidably engage corresponding faces 36 formed on the guide members30.

The engine 14 and its associated base plate 23 are adjustably secured tothe guideways 30, by means of engine hold-down bolts 37 which extendthrough suitable bolt apertures 38, provided in the engine base and baseplate. Each bolt 37 extends through its associated elongated or slottedopening 39 provided in the horizontal wearing surface of each of theguide members 30, there being a corresponding, registering slot in theflange portion of each channel member 32. The bolts 37, which are eachprovided with a nut 40 and a washer 41, are arranged in groups on eachside of the engine base, each group thereof being connected, acrosstheir projecting ends, by a bar member 42, which is, by preference,supported on the nuts and washers of the associated bolts. Each bar is,by preference, vertically spaced from the under side of the flangeportion of the associated channel member, so as to permitfrictionreducing members 43 to be carried therebetween, the members 43,by preference, being suitably mounted in seats therefor on the barmembers. It will be readily understood that, if it is so desired, aspring or other suitable resilient means (not shown) may be disposedbetween the washer 41 and the bar member 42 for yieldingly positioningthese parts. When the nuts 40 are taken up, the weight of the engine andthe pressure applied to the bolts, is carried, at least in substantialpart, by the members 43.

The above provision, therefore, enables the engine to be moved, by meansof the manual control lever, lengthwise of the car, for adjusting thetension in the belt 17, such movement causing the engine 14 and baseplate 23 with its associated angle members 25, to move, guided by thewearing surfaces provided on the guideways, in engaging similar wearingsurfaces 28 and 36 on the angle members. During such movement thehold-down bolts 37 travel along, and in slotted openings 38, the slidingmovement thereof being aided by the reduced area of contact provided bymembers 43.

It has been found in practice that after considerable service, the slidefaces may be subjected to appreciable wear, resulting in certainirregularities in alignment of the guide members with respect to theguideways. Provision is made for adjusting the guideways, so as to takeup this wear, by studs 44 which extend transversely through and betweenopenings 45 provided in the channel members 32. Suitable tubular spacermembers 46 are, by preference, mounted on each through stud 44, betweenthe channel members. The length of each spacer member or sleeve is, bypreference, less than the initial distance between the channel members,the annular space between the ends of the spacer member and the channelmembers, being taken up by circular shims 47, which are, by preference,spilt on one side to facilitate removal and/or replacement. It will bereadily seen that by taking up on nuts 48, threadedly associated withthe studs 44, the channel members may be drawn toward each other, andthat by adding or removing shims the effective distance between thechannel members may be adjusted to compensate for any wear of the slidemembers, and also to enable the channels, guides and guideways to bekept in accurate parallelism at all times.

In order to permit such adjustment of the channel members, apertures 49in the cross sills 33, are each made somewhat larger in diameter thanthe associated bolt 34, or these openings may be elongate in form, sothat the bolt, and channel member 32 held thereby, may be movedlengthwise of the sill member, and transversely of the car, andlikewise, the slotted openings 39 are of an area and shape to permit theentire base guideway assembly to be moved with respect to the framestructure. After the necessary adjustment has been effected, the boltand nut structure 34 may be taken up, and the guideway structure againsecured to the frame 11 of the car.

In Fig. 8 there is shown a modified form of engine hold-down arrangementin which the above described assembly is replaced by an improvedcushioning device including a wearing strip 50, which is placed inrubbing contact with the under side of the flange portion of the channelmembers. An engine hold-down bolt 51, extending through the engine baseand plate 23, slotted openings 39 in the angle member 30, channel member32, and through an opening 52 in the strip 50, is provided with areduced portion 53, forming a shoulder 54, the end of the reducedportion being threaded to receive a securing nut 55. An invertedcup-shaped retaining member 56, positioned concentrically of the reducedportion of the bolt 51, is arranged to be biased against the shoulder 54by a resilient, cushioning member 57, which preferably consists of amaterial such as a rubber composition, disposed about the reducedportion 53 of the hold-down bolt and between the inner surface of theretaining member and the washer associated with the nut 55.

It will be readily seen that the herein described improved enginemounting has several decided advantages over the older prevailing typesof bases. The entire base structure may be of structural steel shapeswhich are readily available, and thus eliminate expensive and heaviercast iron members to effect a considerable saving in construction cost,the use of structural steel members resulting in a simpler and morerugged construction. Further, it will be seen that the guide-shoes 30which receive the major portion of the wear, due to sliding movement ofthe engine, are readily removable and replaceable. It will, also, beseen that the guide surfaces are so positioned as to negative anypossibility of a trough being formed, to permit the collection ofmoisture on the sliding surfaces to cause rusting, as is prevalent incast iron base structures. The improved provision for adjusting thechannel members for wear, and the fact that the wearing surfaces of theslide members are relatively larger than the sliding surface areasusually provided in older prevailing types of engine bases, insure abetter alignment and a greater ease in moving the engine upon the base.

It will, of course, be understood that the present detailed descriptionof parts, and the accompanying drawings, relate to only a single,preferred executional embodiment of this invention, and

that substantial changes may be made in the described arrangement andconstruction of parts without departing from the spirit and fullintended scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A slidable engine support for a vehicle including vehicle crosssills, a pair of parallel guide angles detachably carried by the engine,spaced longitudinal sill structures including parallel angle barsarranged for slidably receiving therebetween, the guide anglesassociated with the engine, means for adjustably anchoring thelongitudinal sill structures to the vehicle cross sills, and adjustablespacing means bridging said longitudinal sill structures.

2. In combination in a railway motor car, a frame including longitudinalsill members constituting an engine support, guide members removablysecured to said sill members, means for connecting said guide members inspaced relation, and means for adjusting the position of said sillmembers with respect to each other, and to the frame of the car.

3. An engine mounting for railway cars, comprising a frameworkfabricated of structural steel shapes, including a pair of longitudinalguideways each having a horizontal face on which the engine is slidablymounted, and a vertical face, guide followers detachably secured to anengine, in depending relation thereto, and in sliding engagement withthe vertical faces of the guideways, spacer members disposedtransversely of said guideways, and means for adjusting the effectivelength of said spacer members, to compensate for wear of the guidewaysand followers.

4. A supporting structure for permitting shifting movement of an engine,including spaced pairs of angle members, the members of each pair beingarranged in opposed slidable relation, one member of each pair beingdetachably carried by the engine and the other of each pair disposed toserve as a guide therefor, a pair of longitudinally disposed channelbars by which the guiding angle members are carried, means for laterallyadjusting the guiding angles with respect to the channel bars, and meansfor adjusting the space relation between said channel bars.

5. A supporting structure for permitting shifting movement of an engine,including spaced pairs of angle members, the members of each pair beingarranged in opposed slidable relation, one member of each pair beingcarried by the engine and the other of each pair mounted to serve as aguide therefor, and supports for the guiding angle members, formed topermit adjustment of said members in a direction transversely of theline of engine-shifting movement.

6. A supporting structure for permitting shifting movement of a vehicleengine, including spaced pairs of angle members, one member of each pairbeing stationary and providing a horizontal surface for slidableengagement by the engine, the other member of each pair having avertical leg projecting between the stationary members and guidinglyengaged thereby, means separately detachably securing the stationarymembers to the vehicle, and means for adjusting the space relationbetween the coacting angle members.

7. In combination in a railway motor car, a frame including longitudinalsill members, guide members secured to said sill members, on and betweenwhich the engine is slidably mounted, spacer members disposedtransversely of said guide members, tie members passing through saidspacer members and arranged to hold the sill members in assembledrelation, and means /carried by the tie members for effecting adjustmentof the spacer members.

8. An engine mounting for use in railway motor cars, includingguide'members, guide followers, means detachably securing said followersto an engine, in position along said guide members, friction-reducingelements associated with said guide members, and means for adjusting the9. In combination in a shiftable engine mount-- ing, spaced supportsover which the engine is adapted for shifting movements,friction-reducing inserts of cylindrical form operable along saidsupports, and means carried by the engine constituting a carrier orholder for said inserts.

10. In combination in a railway motor car, a frame includinglongitudinal sill members, guide members removably secured to said sillmembers, said guide members having substantially vertical guide faces,guide followers engaging said guide faces, bolts for holding the enginein sliding relation on said guide members, and friction-reducingelements of circular section movable with the engine and movable alongportions of said sill members.

ll; A supporting structure for permitting shifting movement of anengine, including spaced pairs of angle members, the members of eachpair being arranged in opposed slidable relation, one member of eachpair being carried by the engine and the other of each pair mounted toserve as a guide therefor, holding members projecting from the enginethrough the guides, a structure bridging certain of said holdingmembers, and cylindrical elements disposed between the bridgingstructure and the guides.

12. In a shiftable engine mounting for railway motor cars, a stationaryguide structure below the engine, said structure including channel barsextending longitudinally of the engine, holddown bolts extending fromthe engine through portions of said guide structure, a hollow openendedelement carried by each of said bolts and within the channels of saidbars, a block of resilient material apertured to extend over said boltand disposed within the hollow element, and a nut carried by said boltin compressing engagement with said block of resilient material.

13. In combination in a railway motor car, a frame including cross sillmembers, spacedlongitudinal sills, means for adjustably anchoring thelongitudinal sills to the cross sills, spaced pairs of angle members,the members of each pair being arranged in opposed slidable relation,one member of each pair being stationary and providing a horizontalsurface for slidable engagement by the motor, the other member of eachpair having a vertical leg projecting between the stationary members andguidingly engaged thereby, holding members projecting from the motorthrough the guides, a structure bridging certain of said holdingmembers, spacer members disposed transversely of said guide members, tiemembers passing through said spacer members and arranged to hold theguide members in assembled relation, and means for adjusting theeffective length of said spacer members.

RAYMOND C. STRAUBE.

